Parking assistance device, parking assistance method, and computer-readable medium

ABSTRACT

A parking assistance device according to the present disclosure performs automatic travel of a vehicle based on teaching travel by a driver. The parking assistance device includes a memory and a hardware processor coupled to the memory. The hardware processor is configured to: learn a travel route for parking the vehicle in a parking position and a speed, a steering angle, and braking operation of the vehicle during the teaching travel, based on the teaching travel; and modify the speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation in the automatic travel of the vehicle from the speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation in the teaching travel, based on any of a regulation for the automatic travel of the vehicle, environmental information relating to an environment around the vehicle, or geographic information relating to a road condition around the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2021-032141, filed on Mar. 1, 2021, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a parking assistance device, a parkingassistance method, and a computer-readable medium.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, parking assistance technology is known with which, whena vehicle is parked, the vehicle is moved by automated driving. One suchparking assistance technology is a technology that learns a travel routeon the basis of teaching travel by the driver and uses the results ofthat learning to provide parking assistance. This technology is used,for example, when the driver repeatedly parks in a fixed parkingposition, such as the parking lot at the home or place of work of thedriver.

See Japanese Patent No. 6022447, for example

However, since teaching travel is manual driving by the driver, thevehicle speed and steering motion during teaching travel are notnecessarily suitable for automated driving.

The present disclosure provides a parking assistance device, a parkingassistance method, and a computer-readable medium that enable thebehavior of a vehicle to be placed in a state suitable for travel byautomated driving when the vehicle is traveling automatically along atravel route based on teaching travel.

SUMMARY

A parking assistance device according to the present disclosure performsautomatic travel of a vehicle based on teaching travel by a driver. Theparking assistance device includes a memory and a hardware processorcoupled to the memory. The hardware processor is configured to: learn atravel route for parking the vehicle in a parking position and a speed,a steering angle, and braking operation of the vehicle during theteaching travel, based on the teaching travel; and modify the speed, thesteering angle, or the braking operation in the automatic travel of thevehicle from the speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation inthe teaching travel, based on any of a regulation for the automatictravel of the vehicle, environmental information relating to anenvironment around the vehicle, or geographic information relating to aroad condition around the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle equipped with aparking assistance device according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration in thevicinity of vehicle driving seat according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configurationof the parking assistance device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram serving to illustrate an example of parkingassistance according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functions ofthe parking assistance device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of notification according tothe first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of parkingassistance processing executed by the parking assistance deviceaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of travelroute correction and automated driving processing which are executed bythe parking assistance device according to the first embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of travelroute information modification processing according to a secondembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the parking assistance device and parking assistancemethod according to the present disclosure will be described hereinbelowwith reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle 1 equipped witha parking assistance device 100 according to a first embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 is equipped with a vehicle body 12,and two pairs of wheels 13 arranged along a predetermined direction onthe vehicle body 12. The two pairs of wheels 13 are equipped with onepair of front tires 13 f and one pair of rear tires 13 r.

The front tire 13 f illustrated in FIG. 1 is an example of a first wheelaccording to this embodiment. Furthermore, the rear tire 13 r is anexample of a second wheel according to this embodiment. Note that,although the vehicle 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is equipped with fourwheels 13, the number of wheels 13 is not limited to this quantity. Forexample, the vehicle 1 may also have two wheels.

The vehicle body 12 is coupled to the wheels 13 and is capable of movingusing the wheels 13. In this case, the predetermined direction in whichthe two pairs of wheels 13 are arranged is the travel direction(movement direction) of the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 is capable ofadvancing and retreating through the switching of gears (notillustrated), or the like. Furthermore, the vehicle 1 is also capable ofturning left and right through steering.

In addition, the vehicle body 12 has a front end portion F, which is theend on the front tire 13 f side, and a rear end portion R, which is theend on the rear tire 13 r side. The vehicle body 12 has an approximatelyrectangular shape in a top view, and the four corner portions of thesubstantially rectangular shape will sometimes be referred to as ends.Furthermore, although not illustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 isequipped with a display device, a loudspeaker, and an operating unit.

One pair of bumpers 14 are provided in the vicinity of the lower end ofthe vehicle body 12, which are the front end portion F and the rear endportion R of the vehicle body 12. Of the one pair of bumpers 14, a frontbumper 14 f covers a portion of the side surface and the whole of thefront surface in the vicinity of the lower end portion of the vehiclebody 12. Of the one pair of bumpers 14, a rear bumper 14 r covers aportion of the side surface and the whole of the rear surface in thevicinity of the lower end portion of the vehicle body 12.

Transmission/reception units 15 f and 15 r, which transmit and receivesound waves such as ultrasonic waves, are arranged at a predeterminedend of the vehicle body 12. For example, one or moretransmission/reception units 15 f are arranged on the front bumper 14 f,and one or more transmission/reception units 15 r are arranged on therear bumper 14 r. When not particularly limited, thetransmission/reception units 15 f and 15 r are simply referred tohereinbelow as the transmission/reception units 15. Furthermore, thequantity and positions of the transmission/reception units 15 are notlimited to the example illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the vehicle 1may also be equipped with the transmission/reception units 15 on theleft and right sides.

Although sonar using ultrasonic waves is described as an example of thetransmission/reception units 15 in this embodiment, thetransmission/reception units 15 may also be radars that send and receiveelectromagnetic waves. Alternatively, the vehicle 1 may also be equippedwith both sonar and radar. Further, the transmission/reception units 15may simply be referred to as sensors.

More specifically, the transmission/reception units 15 are equipped witha transmission unit that sends sound waves such as ultrasonic waves orelectromagnetic waves, and a reception unit that receives sound wavessent from the transmission unit, or reflected sound waves obtained byelectromagnetic waves being reflected by an object. Thetransmission/reception units 15 detect obstacles around the vehicle 1 onthe basis of the results of sound waves or electromagnetic waves beingsent and received. Furthermore, the transmission/reception units 15measure the distance between the vehicle 1 and obstacles around thevehicle 1 on the basis of the results of sending/receiving sound wavesor electromagnetic waves.

The vehicle 1 is also equipped with a first imaging device 16 a thatimages the front of the vehicle 1, a second imaging device 16 b thatimages the rear of the vehicle 1, a third imaging device 16 c thatimages the left side of the vehicle 1, and a fourth imaging device thatimages the right side of the vehicle 1. An illustration of the fourthimaging device is omitted.

When there is no particular distinction to be made, the first imagingdevice 16 a, second imaging device 16 b, third imaging device 16 c, andfourth imaging device are referred to hereinbelow simply as the imagingdevices 16. The positions and quantity of imaging devices are notlimited to or by the example illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, thevehicle 1 may also be equipped with only two devices, namely, the firstimaging device 16 a and the second imaging device 16 b. Alternatively,the vehicle 1 may have further imaging devices in addition to those inthe abovementioned example.

The imaging devices 16 are cameras which are capable of capturing imagesaround the vehicle 1, such as color images, for example. Note that thecaptured images captured by the imaging devices 16 may be moving imagesor still images. Furthermore, the imaging devices 16 may be camerasbuilt into the vehicle 1, or drive recorder cameras or the like whichare retrofitted to the vehicle 1.

The parking assistance device 100 is also built into the vehicle 1. Theparking assistance device 100 executes the automatic travel of thevehicle 1 on the basis of teaching travel by the driver. The parkingassistance device 100 is an information processing device that can bebuilt into the vehicle 1, such as, for example, an electronic controlunit (ECU) which is provided inside the vehicle 1 or an on-board unit(OBU). Alternatively, the parking assistance device 100 may be anexternal device that is provided in the vicinity of the dashboard of thevehicle 1. Note that the parking assistance device 100 may also serve asa car navigation device, or the like.

The configuration in the vicinity of the driving seat of the vehicle 1according to this embodiment will be described next. FIG. 2 is a diagramillustrating an example of a configuration in the vicinity of a drivingseat 130 a of the vehicle 1 according to the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the vehicle 1 is equipped with the drivingseat 130 a and a passenger seat 130 b. In front of the driving seat 130a, there is a windshield 180, a dashboard 190, a steering wheel 140, adisplay device 120, and an operation button 141.

The display device 120 is a display installed in the dashboard 190 ofthe vehicle 1. The display device 120 is, by way of an example, locatedin the center of the dashboard 190, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Thedisplay device 120 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, or anorganic electroluminescence (EL) display. The display device 120 canalso serve as a touch panel.

The windshield 180 also becomes a head-up display capable of displayingimages when images are projected by a projection device (notillustrated). The display device 120 and the head-up display areexamples of the display unit according to this embodiment.

Furthermore, the steering wheel 140 is provided in the front surface ofthe driving seat 130 a and can be operated by the driver. The angle ofrotation, that is, the steering angle, of the steering wheel 140 iselectrically or mechanically linked to the change in direction of thefront tires 13 f, which are the steered wheels. Note that the steeredwheels may be the rear tires 13 r, or both the front tires 13 f and therear tires 13 r may be the steered wheels.

The operation button 141 is a button that enables operations by the userto be received. Note that, in this embodiment, the user is, for example,the driver of the vehicle 1. The operation button 141 receives anoperation from the driver to start parking assistance, for example, byreceiving a press from the driver. Note that the position of theoperation button 141 is not limited to or by the example illustrated inFIG. 2, and may be provided on the steering wheel 140, for example. Theoperation button 141 is an example of the operating unit according tothis embodiment. If the display device 120 also serves as a touch panel,the display device 120 may also be an example of the operating unit.Furthermore, an operation terminal capable of transmitting a signal tothe vehicle 1 from outside the vehicle 1, such as a remote controller oran electronic key (not illustrated), may also be used as an example ofthe operating unit.

Next, the hardware configuration of the parking assistance device 100will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of thehardware configuration of the parking assistance device 100 according tothe first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the parking assistancedevice 100 has a hardware configuration that utilizes an ordinarycomputer, in which a central processing unit (CPU) 11A, a read-onlymemory (ROM) 11B, a random-access memory (RAM) 11C, an interface (I/F)11D, a hard disk drive (HDD) 11E, or the like, are connected to eachother via a bus 11F.

The CPU 11A is a computation device that controls the whole ECU. Notethat the CPU 11A is an example of a processor in the parking assistancedevice 100 according to this embodiment, and that another processor orprocessing circuit may also be provided in place of the CPU 11A. The ROM11B stores programs and the like that implement various types ofprocessing by the CPU 11A. The RAM 11C is, for example, the main storagedevice of the parking assistance device 100, and stores the datanecessary for various types of processing by the CPU 11A. The I/F 11D isan interface for sending and receiving data. The I/F 11D may also sendand receive information to and from other ECUs installed in the vehicle1 via a controller area network (CAN) or the like in the vehicle 1.

The functions of the vehicle 1 according to this embodiment will bedescribed next. The vehicle 1 according to this embodiment learns atravel route on the basis of teaching travel by the driver and uses theresults of that learning to perform parking assistance. Such parkingassistance is effective in reducing the effort by the driver whenparking repeatedly at a fixed parking position, such as, for example,the garage of the driver's home, a contracted parking position at anapartment complex, or a designated parking position in the parking lotof the driver's workplace. For this reason, this type of parkingassistance is referred to as home zone parking.

FIG. 4 is a diagram serving to illustrate an example of parkingassistance according to the first embodiment. A travel route 80illustrated in FIG. 4 is the route that the vehicle 1 moves from atravel start position 900 to a parking position 910.

The parking position 910 is located, for example, within a garage 920 ata home 7 of the driver of the vehicle 1, but is not limited to or bythis location. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the travel startposition 900 is on a roadway 40. The roadway 40 is assumed to be apublic road. Furthermore, the entrance and exit of the garage 920 facesa sidewalk 41. There is also a step 45 at the boundary between theroadway 40 and the sidewalk 41. In moving from the roadway 40 to thegarage 920, the vehicle 1 passes across the step 45 and the sidewalk 41.

The parking assistance device 100 according to this embodiment performshome zone parking, which involves learning the travel route 80 andparking the vehicle 1 in the parking position 910 on the basis of thelearned travel route 80. The parking position 910 is the goal of thetravel route using home zone parking, and is also referred to as thetarget position. Note that the travel route 80 illustrated in FIG. 4 isan example, and that the environment in which the home zone parkingaccording to this embodiment can be applied is not limited thereto.

The details of the functions of the parking assistance device 100according to this embodiment will be described next. FIG. 5 is a blockdiagram illustrating an example of the functions of the parkingassistance device 100 according to the first embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the parking assistance device 100 according tothis embodiment is equipped with an acquisition unit 101, an extractionunit 102, a learning unit 103, an estimation unit 104, a determinationunit 105, a modification unit 106, an output control unit 107, a vehiclecontrol unit 108, a reception unit 109, and a storage unit 110.

The storage unit 110 is configured from the ROM 11B, the RAM 11C, or theHDD 11E, for example. Note that, in FIG. 5, although one storage unit110 is disclosed as being included in the parking assistance device 100,a plurality of storage media may also function as the storage unit 110.

The storage unit 110 stores programs and data used in the various typesof processing executed by the parking assistance device 100. Forexample, the program executed by the parking assistance device 100according to this embodiment has a modular configuration that includeseach of the above-mentioned units (the acquisition unit 101, extractionunit 102, learning unit 103, estimation unit 104, determination unit105, modification unit 106, output control unit 107, vehicle controlunit 108, and reception unit 109), and in terms of actual hardware, eachof the above-mentioned units is loaded into the RAM 11C due to the CPU11A reading and executing a program from the storage unit 110, and theacquisition unit 101, extraction unit 102, learning unit 103, estimationunit 104, determination unit 105, modification unit 106, output controlunit 107, vehicle control unit 108, and reception unit 109 are generatedon the RAM 11C.

The program executed by the parking assistance device 100 according tothis embodiment is provided as a file in an installable format or anexecutable format, and is recorded on a computer-readable recordingmedium such as a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, or DVD (DigitalVersatile Disk).

Furthermore, the program executed by the parking assistance device 100according to this embodiment may be configured to be stored on acomputer connected to a network such as the internet or to be providedby being downloaded over the network. The program executed by theparking assistance device 100 according to this embodiment may also beconfigured so as to be provided or distributed via a network such as theInternet. In addition, the program to be executed by the parkingassistance device 100 according to this embodiment may also beconfigured to be provided incorporated into the ROM 11B, or the like,beforehand.

The storage unit 110 also stores a regulation for automatic travel ofthe vehicle 1, and map information.

The regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 is a regulation forthe speed, the steering angle, or the necessity of a temporary stop ofthe vehicle 1, which is applied when the vehicle 1 travelsautomatically. The regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 isdefined, for example, by a law, or a standard. More specifically, theregulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 is defined by aninternational standard such as ISO 20900 (2019 Intelligent transportsystems—Partially automated parking systems: PAPS), or by the law ofeach country. As an example, PAPS stipulates that the vehicle speedduring partially automated parking is generally 10 km/h or less.

Furthermore, the regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 is notlimited to a regulation specific to automated driving, but may also be aregulation relating to general driving of the vehicle 1. For example, aregulation for the general driving of the vehicle 1 includes thelocation of a temporary stop as defined by the Road Traffic Law.

Furthermore, the regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 may benot only a law or a rule, but also a regulation based on the ridecomfort of the passenger or the effect on the people around the vehicle1 during the automatic travel of the vehicle 1. For example, even if thevehicle speed is less than or equal to that defined by a law, or astandard, the vehicle speed may be too fast in terms of the ride comfortof the passenger of the vehicle 1. The effect on the people around thevehicle 1 is, for example, that when the vehicle 1 is traveling byautomated driving, the people around the vehicle 1 are surprised or aregiven the impression that travel is dangerous.

In this embodiment, the storage unit 110 stores a speed slower than thespeed defined by a law or a standard as a threshold value for thevehicle speed during automatic travel in order to improve the ridecomfort of the passenger of the vehicle 1 and the sense of security ofthose around the vehicle 1. Note that the threshold value may bepre-registered at the time of shipment of the parking assistance device100, or may be set by the user.

Additionally, even if the speed is less than or equal to the thresholdvalue, the ride comfort may deteriorate depending on the magnitude ofthe steering angle or the frequency of modification. For example, if alarge steering operation is performed while the speed is reduced due toautomated driving, shaking of the vehicle body 12 may become moresignificant, and the ride comfort may worsen. Hence, in this embodiment,the storage unit 110 stores a condition for the combination of speed andsteering angle as one of the regulations for automatic travel of thevehicle 1.

Moreover, since a law and the like are subject to revision, theregulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 stored in the storageunit 110 is updated periodically.

The map information is a digital map that includes information about theroads around the vehicle 1. Note that the map information does not haveto be stored in the parking assistance device 100, and may also beacquired from the Internet during usage. The map information is anexample of geographic information relating to the road conditions aroundthe vehicle 1 according to this embodiment.

The acquisition unit 101 acquires vehicle information and environmentalinformation from the imaging devices 16, the transmission/receptionunits 15, various sensors, or other ECUs, which are mounted on thevehicle 1.

Vehicle information is information relating to the behavior of thevehicle 1. Vehicle information includes, for example, informationrelating to the speed, steering angle, and braking operation of thevehicle 1. The information about the braking operation is, for example,the time when the brakes were applied to the vehicle 1 and theinformation about the strength of the brakes.

Environmental information is information about the environment aroundthe vehicle 1. For example, the environmental information includes thepresence or absence of obstacles around the vehicle 1 and the distancebetween the vehicle 1 and the obstacles. More specifically, theacquisition unit 101 acquires the presence or absence of obstaclesdetected by the transmission/reception units 15 and the distance betweenobstacles around the vehicle 1 and the vehicle 1 measured by thetransmission/reception units 15.

Note that the environmental information may also include additionalinformation. For example, the images captured in the vicinity of thevehicle 1 may also be included in the environmental information. Theacquisition unit 101 acquires the images captured in the vicinity of thevehicle 1 from the imaging devices 16. The images are referred tohereinbelow as the surrounding images. More specifically, theacquisition unit 101 acquires a plurality of surrounding images when thevehicle 1 learns a travel route based on teaching travel and when thevehicle 1 performs automatic travel based on the learned travel route.

Furthermore, the acquisition unit 101 acquires a regulation forautomatic travel of the vehicle 1 via a network such as the Internet,and saves the same in the storage unit 110. This processing may beexecuted periodically, for example, or may be executed when theacquisition unit 101 acquires a notification for a law revision or thelike.

The extraction unit 102 extracts feature points from the surroundingimages. The technique for extracting feature points by the extractionunit 102 is not particularly limited, and any known technique may beapplied. For example, the extraction unit 102 extracts the featurepoints using techniques such as Features from Accelerated Segment Test(FAST) or Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF (ORB). Furthermore, theextraction unit 102 may, when learning the travel route 80,preferentially record the feature points that satisfy a designatedcondition among the extracted feature points. For example, the featurepoints extracted from a plurality of surrounding images that arechronologically contiguous and for which the distance the vehicle 1 hasmoved during imaging is longer may be preferentially selected as featurepoints.

On the basis of the teaching travel by the driver, the learning unit 103learns the travel route 80 on which the vehicle 1 is parked in theparking position 910, and the speed, steering angle, and brakingoperation of the vehicle 1 during the teaching travel. Furthermore, whenlearning the travel route 80, the learning unit 103 learns the changesin the position of the vehicle 1 on the basis of the changes in thefeature points extracted from the plurality of surrounding imagescaptured during the teaching travel. The learning unit 103 also learnsthe speed, steering angle, and braking operation of the vehicle 1 duringteaching travel.

The teaching travel according to this embodiment is travel in which thedriver moves the vehicle 1 from the travel start position 900 outsidethe parking position to the parking position 910 by using manualdriving. According to this embodiment, the learning unit 103 learns thetravel start position 900 in the teaching travel as the start positionof the travel route 80. Note that the distance from the travel startposition 900 to the parking position 910 should be, for example, on theorder of 50 meters, but is not limited to this distance.

For example, the driver starts teaching travel from a state where thevehicle 1 has stopped in a position different from the parking position910, for example, in a desired position outside the garage 920, andcauses the vehicle 1 to travel backward to the parking position 910inside the garage 920. Note that teaching travel is not limited to or bybackward travel, and may also be forward travel.

During the teaching travel, the above-mentioned acquisition unit 101acquires surrounding images and vehicle information. In addition, duringthe teaching travel, the above-mentioned extraction unit 102 extractsfeature points from the surrounding images acquired by the acquisitionunit 101. The learning unit 103 records the route traveled by thevehicle 1 by using manual driving as the travel route 80 on the basis ofthe extracted feature points and the vehicle information at the timewhen the surrounding images from which the feature points were extractedwere captured. Specifically, when the driver performs teaching travel topark the vehicle 1 at the parking position 910 using backward travel,the travel route 80 will also be the route where the vehicle 1 parks atthe parking position 910 by using backward travel. Furthermore,according to this embodiment, the position in which the teaching travelis started is the travel start position 900 of the travel route 80. Thelearning unit 103 saves the recorded travel route information definingthe travel route 80 in the storage unit 110.

The travel route information is saved in the storage unit 110 asinformation that chronologically associates, for example, the speed,steering angle, and braking operation of the vehicle 1 during teachingtravel and the feature points extracted from the plurality ofsurrounding images captured along with the movement of the vehicle 1during the teaching travel. Note that the technique for learning thetravel route 80 and the way the travel route is defined are not limitedto this example.

The estimation unit 104 estimates the position of the vehicle 1 on thebasis of the surrounding images.

More specifically, the estimation unit 104 reads the travel route 80from the storage unit 110 when an operation to start home zone parkingis received by the driver by using the reception unit 109 (describedsubsequently). The estimation unit 104 then estimates the position ofthe vehicle 1 and the travel start position 900 of the travel route 80on the basis of the travel route 80 and the feature points extractedfrom the surrounding images by the extraction unit 102.

The estimation unit 104 compares the feature points of the surroundingimages at the time of learning the travel route 80 with the featurepoints of the surrounding images at the time when the operation to startthe home zone parking is received. Based on the differences in thesefeature points, the estimation unit 104 estimates the position andorientation of the vehicle 1 at the time when the operation to starthome zone parking is received. Note that the estimation unit 104 doesnot have to specify the travel start position 900 and the currentposition of the vehicle 1 as absolute positions, and only has toidentify the relative positional relationship between the travel startposition 900 and the current position of the vehicle 1. Note that thetechnique for estimating the position of the vehicle 1 and the travelstart position 900 as used by the estimation unit 104 is not limited toor by this example.

The estimation unit 104 sends the estimated position of the vehicle 1and the travel start position 900 to the output control unit 107(described subsequently).

The estimation unit 104 also estimates the position of the vehicle 1while the vehicle 1 is automatically traveling due to the vehiclecontrol unit 108 described subsequently, on the basis of the featurepoints included in the travel route information and the feature pointsextracted from the surrounding images acquired during the automatictravel. The estimation unit 104 sends the estimated position of thevehicle 1 to the vehicle control unit 108.

The determination unit 105 determines whether the travel route 80learned by the learning unit 103 and the behavior of the vehicle 1during the teaching travel satisfy the regulation for automatic travelof the vehicle 1, on the basis of any of the regulation for automatictravel of the vehicle 1, environmental information, or geographicinformation. According to this embodiment, the determination unit 105performs the determination when automated driving based on the travelroute 80 is started. The behavior of the vehicle 1 during teachingtravel is the speed, steering angle, and braking operation of thevehicle 1. Note that the determination unit 105 may perform thedetermination processing on the basis of any one or two of theregulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1, environmentalinformation, and geographic information, or may perform thedetermination processing on the basis of all of the regulation forautomatic travel of the vehicle 1, environmental information, andgeographic information.

More specifically, when the operation to start home zone parking isreceived by the reception unit 109, the determination unit 105 reads thetravel route information from the storage unit 110. The determinationunit 105 determines whether or not the travel route information thusread out satisfies the regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1.Upon determining that the travel route 80 does not satisfy theregulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1, the determination unit105 sends the regulation with which the travel route 80 is not satisfiedto the modification unit 106.

The modification unit 106 modifies the speed, steering angle, or brakingoperation of the vehicle 1 during automatic travel from the speed,steering angle, or braking operation during teaching travel on the basisof a regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1, environmentalinformation relating to the environment around the vehicle 1, andgeographic information relating to the road conditions around thevehicle 1. In other words, the modification unit 106 does not reproducethe recorded teaching travel as is, but rather corrects same to satisfythe regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1. According to thisembodiment, the modification unit 106 performs a modification to thespeed, steering angle, or braking operation when automated driving basedon the travel route 80 is started.

More specifically, the modification unit 106 modifies the travel route80 or the speed, steering angle, or braking operation when thedetermination unit 105 determines that the travel route 80 or thebehavior of the vehicle 1 during teaching travel does not satisfy theregulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1.

For example, when the speed during teaching travel is greater than orequal to a threshold value, the modification unit 106 modifies the speedto be less than or equal to the threshold value. Note that, in thiscase, the trajectory of the travel route 80 may be the same as that ofthe teaching travel.

Furthermore, when the combination of the speed and the steering angleduring teaching travel does not satisfy the regulation for automatictravel of the vehicle 1, the modification unit 106 smooths the travelroute 80 by modifying the combination of speed and steering angle.

In addition, the modification unit 106 modifies the braking operation toimplement a temporary stop even at points where the vehicle has nottemporarily stopped during teaching travel, when a temporary stop isrequired by the regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1. Alocation where a temporary stop is required according to the regulationis, for example, the sidewalk 41 that exists between the roadway 40 andthe garage 920.

When the driver has not performed a temporary stop while crossing thesidewalk 41 upon performing teaching travel, the modification unit 106modifies the braking operation to implement a temporary stop whilecrossing the sidewalk 41 during automated driving. Whether or not thesidewalk 41 is on the travel route 80 may be determined by the foregoingdetermination unit 105 on the basis of the environmental informationacquired by the acquisition unit 101 or the map information saved in thestorage unit 110. For example, there is a step 45 at the boundarybetween the roadway 40 and the sidewalk 41. When the step is detectedusing the transmission/reception units 15 or the surrounding images, thedetermination unit 105 specifies the position where the travel route 80enters the sidewalk 41 and determines whether a braking operation isperformed at the position in the behavior of the vehicle 1 recordedduring teaching travel.

The modification unit 106 may also modify the behavior of the vehicle 1recorded during the teaching travel on the basis of the environmentalinformation. Environmental information includes the presence or absenceof obstacles around the vehicle 1 and the distance between the vehicle 1and the obstacles around the vehicle 1, as described above. For example,when there is an obstacle such as another vehicle in the vicinity of thetravel route 80, the modification unit 106 may temporarily stop thevehicle 1 or modify the travel route 80 to move away from the obstacle.

Note that, according to this embodiment, the determination unit 105 andthe modification unit 106 are described separately, but one functionalunit may also be provided with these functions.

When the modification unit 106 modifies the speed, steering angle, orbraking operation, the output control unit 107 notifies the passenger ofthe vehicle 1 that the vehicle 1 will behave differently than duringteaching travel. The output control unit 107 may also notify the driverto check the surroundings when the vehicle 1 temporarily stops duringautomatic travel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of notification according tothe first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the output control unit107 displays a message on the display device 120 such as “A temporarystop is made due to a law please check surroundings”. The output controlunit 107 may also notify the passenger of the vehicle 1 that the vehicle1 will behave differently than during teaching travel by displayingsymbols or figures signifying caution on the head-up display. Note thatthe notification technique used by the output control unit 107 is notlimited to a display, rather, the output control unit 107 may alsooutput a message using voice from the loudspeaker of the vehicle 1.

Returning to FIG. 5, the vehicle control unit 108 causes the vehicle 1to move to the parking position 910 by automated driving based on thetravel route 80. The vehicle control unit 108 causes the vehicle 1 totravel automatically by controlling the steering, braking, andacceleration/deceleration of the vehicle 1. According to thisembodiment, the vehicle control unit 108 causes the vehicle 1 to travelautomatically along the learned travel route 80. Such a travel controltechnique is also called regenerating the travel route 80.

Furthermore, when the speed, steering angle, or braking operation ismodified by the modification unit 106, the vehicle control unit 108causes the vehicle 1 to move to the parking position 910 by automateddriving based on the modified speed, steering angle, or brakingoperation.

Note that, according to this embodiment, the driver may be seated in thedriving seat 130 a of the vehicle 1 during the automatic travel of thevehicle control unit 108, or may have disembarked from the vehicle 1.

Further, when the vehicle 1 deviates from the travel route 80, thevehicle control unit 108 uses feedback control to move the vehicle 1back to the travel route 80. For example, the vehicle control unit 108estimates the difference between the position of the vehicle 1 and thetravel route 80 on the basis of the position of the vehicle 1 estimatedby the estimation unit 104, and causes the vehicle 1 to travel so as toreduce the difference.

In addition, although FIG. 5 illustrates the parking assistance device100 as being equipped with the vehicle control unit 108, the vehiclecontrol unit 108 may also be implemented by another ECU outside theparking assistance device 100.

The reception unit 109 receives various operations from the driver. Forexample, the reception unit 109 receives an operation to start parkingassistance when, for example, the operation button 141 is pressed.Further, when the display device 120 is a touch panel, the operation tostart parking assistance may be received when an image button on thetouch panel is pressed.

Next, the flow of parking assistance processing executed by the parkingassistance device 100 according to this embodiment configured asdescribed above will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of parkingassistance processing executed by the parking assistance device 100according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 illustrates the processinguntil automated driving starts. The processing of this flowchart starts,for example, when an operation to start parking assistance is receivedby the reception unit 109. Note that it is assumed that, before theprocessing of this flowchart is executed, the travel route 80 based onteaching travel has been learned by the learning unit 103.

First, the acquisition unit 101 acquires a surrounding images from theimaging devices 16 (S1).

The extraction unit 102 then extracts feature points from thesurrounding images acquired by the acquisition unit 101 (S2).

Next, the estimation unit 104 reads the travel route information fromthe storage unit 110 and estimates the position of the vehicle 1 on thebasis of the travel route 80 defined in the travel route information andthe feature point extracted from the surrounding images by theextraction unit 102 (S3).

The estimation unit 104 also estimates the travel start position 900 ofautomated parking on the basis of the travel route 80 and the featurepoint extracted from the surrounding images by the extraction unit 102(S4).

Furthermore, while the vehicle 1 is moving to the travel start position900, the acquisition unit 101 continuously acquires surrounding imagesfrom the imaging devices 16. The extraction unit 102 also extractsfeature points from the acquired surrounding images. The acquisitionunit 101 also acquires vehicle information, and the presence or absenceof obstacles around the vehicle 1 and the distance to the obstacles. Theestimation unit 104 estimates the position of the vehicle 1, whichchanges due to the travel of the vehicle 1, on the basis of the movementof feature points or vehicle information extracted from the surroundingimages.

The vehicle control unit 108 then determines whether or not the vehicle1 has stopped at the travel start position 900 (S7). If the vehicle 1has not reached the travel start position 900 (S5 “No”), the vehiclecontrol unit 108 waits for the vehicle 1 to reach the travel startposition 900 and stop.

When the vehicle 1 reaches the travel start position 900 and stops (S5“Yes”), the travel route correction and automated driving processingthen starts (S6).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of travelroute correction and automated driving processing which are executed bythe parking assistance device 100 according to the first embodiment.

First, the determination unit 105 reads the travel route informationfrom the storage unit 110 (S601). The determination unit 105 may alsoread the map information from the storage unit 110.

In addition, the acquisition unit 101 acquires environmental informationfrom the transmission/reception units 15 mounted in the vehicle 1(S602).

The acquisition unit 101 also acquires vehicle information from varioussensors or other ECUs mounted on the vehicle 1 (S603).

Next, the determination unit 105 determines whether or not the travelroute information satisfies the regulation for automatic travel of thevehicle 1.

Specifically, the determination unit 105 determines whether the travelroute information complies with the law or standard (S604). For example,the determination unit 105 identifies, on the basis of the mapinformation, the position where the travel route 80 defined in thetravel route information passes over the sidewalk 41. The determinationunit 105 then compares the record of the braking operation included inthe travel route information with the position where the travel route 80passes over the sidewalk 41 to determine whether the braking operationincluded in the travel route information complies with the temporarystop specified in the law. The determination unit 105 also determineswhether the travel route information complies with the variousregulations for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 which are stored inthe storage unit 110, rather than being limited to a determination ofwhether or not the vehicle is has temporarily stopped.

If the determination unit 105 determines that the travel routeinformation does not comply with the regulation for automatic travel ofthe vehicle 1 (S604 “No”), the determination unit 105 sends theregulation not satisfied by the travel route 80 to the modification unit106.

In this case, the modification unit 106 modifies the travel routeinformation to satisfy the regulation that has been determined by thedetermination unit 105 as not being satisfied (S605). For example, themodification unit 106 adds a braking operation to implement a temporarystop before the travel route 80 crosses the sidewalk 41.

Further, if the determination unit 105 determines that the travel routeinformation complies with the regulation for automatic travel of thevehicle 1 (S604 “Yes”), the determination unit 105 determines whetherthe speed included in the travel route information is less than or equalto a threshold value (S606).

Upon determining that the speed included in the travel route informationis faster than the threshold value (S606 “No”), the determination unit105 notifies the modification unit 106 that the speed is faster than thethreshold value.

In this case, the modification unit 106 modifies the speed included inthe travel route information to less than or equal to the thresholdvalue (S607).

Furthermore, upon determining that the speed included in the travelroute information is less than or equal to the threshold value (S606“Yes”), the determination unit 105 determines whether the combination ofthe speed and the steering angle included in the travel routeinformation satisfies the designated condition (S608).

Furthermore, upon determining that the combination of the speed and thesteering angle included in the travel route information does not satisfythe designated condition (S608 “No”), the determination unit 105notifies the modification unit 106 of the range on the travel route 80where the combination of the speed and the steering angle does notsatisfy the designated condition.

In this case, the modification unit 106 modifies the speed and thesteering angle included in the travel route information to satisfy thedesignated condition (S609).

The modification unit 106 then sends the modified travel routeinformation to the vehicle control unit 108. Further, when the travelroute information based on the teaching travel satisfies all theregulations, the modification unit 106 notifies the vehicle control unit108 that there is no modification to the travel route information.

Next, the vehicle control unit 108 starts the automatic travel (S610).When the travel route information is modified by the modification unit106, the vehicle control unit 108 controls the vehicle 1 on the basis ofthe modified travel route information. Further, when there is nomodification to the travel route information, the vehicle control unit108 controls the vehicle 1 on the basis of the travel route informationstored in the storage unit 110.

In addition, during automatic travel, the acquisition unit 101continuously acquires the surrounding images (S611). The extraction unit102 then extracts the feature points from the surrounding images (S612).

The estimation unit 104 then estimates the position of the vehicle 1 onthe basis of the extracted feature points (S613). The acquisition unit101 may also continuously acquire environmental information and vehicleinformation during automatic travel.

The determination unit 105 also determines whether the vehicle 1 needsto make a temporary stop (S614). For example, when the current positionof the vehicle 1 estimated by the estimation unit 104 is the position ofa temporary stop defined by the travel route information, thedetermination unit 105 determines that the vehicle 1 needs to make atemporary stop. Based on the environmental information and vehicleinformation, the determination unit 105 also determines that the vehicle1 needs to make a temporary stop when there are obstacles such as othervehicles around the vehicle 1, for example.

When the determination unit 105 determines that the vehicle 1 needs tomake a temporary stop (S614 “Yes”), the vehicle control unit 108 causesthe vehicle 1 to make a temporary stop (S615).

The output control unit 107 then causes the display device 120 todisplay a notification screen making notification that the vehicle 1will make a temporary stop (S616). The output control unit 107 waits bycontinuing to display the notification screen until the temporary stopof the vehicle 1 ends (S617 “No”).

When the temporary stop of the vehicle 1 is complete (S617 “Yes”), thevehicle control unit 108 resumes travel by automated driving (S618).

The output control unit 107 then determines whether or not the vehicle 1has reached the parking position 910 on the basis of the position of thevehicle 1 estimated by the estimation unit 104 (S619). When it isdetermined that the vehicle 1 has not reached the parking position 910(S619 “No”), the processing to move the vehicle 1 to the parkingposition 910 continues by returning to the processing of S160. When itis determined that the vehicle 1 has reached the parking position 910(S619 “Yes”), the travel route correction and automated drivingprocessing end.

Note that although an example in which the notification screen isdisplayed during a temporary stop is illustrated in FIG. 8, the timingof the notification screen display is not limited to the time of atemporary stop, rather, the notification may be made when the steeringangle or vehicle speed during automated driving is different from thatduring teaching travel.

Note that, in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8, it is assumed that themodification of the travel route information is executed after thevehicle 1 stops at the travel start position 900 and before same startsmoving by automated driving, but the timing of the modification of thetravel route information is not limited to this configuration. Themodification of the travel route information may also be executed beforethe vehicle 1 stops at the travel start position 900. After the vehicle1 starts to move by automated driving, the modification of the travelroute information may also be executed as the vehicle 1 advances.

Furthermore, in the flowchart for FIG. 8, the modification unit 106modifies the travel route information every time the determination unit105 makes a determination, but the modification unit 106 may modify thetravel route information after all the determinations are complete.

Dynamic determination processing, such as a temporary stop based on thedetection of the presence of obstacles or the like around the vehicle 1,may also be performed by the vehicle control unit 108 instead of thedetermination unit 105.

Thus, the parking assistance device 100 according to this embodimentlearns the travel route 80 for parking the vehicle 1 at the parkingposition 910 and the speed, steering angle, and braking operation of thevehicle 1 during the teaching travel, on the basis of the teachingtravel by the driver, and then modifies the speed, the steering angle,or the braking operation of the vehicle 1 in the automatic travel fromthe speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation in the teachingtravel, on the basis of any of the regulation for the automatic travelof the vehicle 1, the environmental information, or the geographicinformation. Therefore, with the parking assistance device 100 accordingto this embodiment, when the vehicle 1 automatically travels along thetravel route 80 based on the teaching travel, the behavior of thevehicle 1 can be made suitable for travel by automated driving.

In addition, the regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 is aregulation for the speed, the steering angle, or the necessity of atemporary stop of the vehicle 1, which is applied when the vehicle 1travels automatically. With the parking assistance device 100 accordingto this embodiment, by changing from the speed, steering angle, orbraking operation in the teaching travel so as to satisfy theseregulations, the vehicle 1 can be made to behave in compliance with theregulations during automated driving, even when the driver does notcomply with these regulations during teaching travel. Also, because theparking assistance device 100 is equipped with such a correctionfunction, the driver is able to drive at a speed at which manual drivingis straightforward when performing teaching travel, without the driverbeing forced to drive at a low speed that satisfies an automated drivingregulation.

The regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 is also defined bya law, or a standard. Therefore, the parking assistance device 100according to this embodiment enables the vehicle 1 to be assisted intraveling in compliance with a law or a standard.

Furthermore, the regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1 is aregulation which is determined on the basis of passenger ride comfort orthe effect on the people around the vehicle 1, during automatic travelof the vehicle 1. Therefore, the parking assistance device 100 accordingto this embodiment makes it possible, when the vehicle 1 is travelingautomatically, to improve the ride comfort of passenger and the sense ofsecurity for those in the vicinity.

Second Embodiment

In this first embodiment, the parking assistance device 100 modifies thetravel route information also when learning the travel route 80 usingteaching travel, in addition to when performing parking assistance byautomated driving.

The configuration of the vehicle 1 according to this embodiment is thesame as the configuration according to the first embodiment illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2. The hardware configuration and functional blocks ofthe parking assistance device 100 according to this embodiment are thesame as those of the first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5.Similarly to the first embodiment, the parking assistance device 100according to this embodiment is equipped with an acquisition unit 101,an extraction unit 102, a learning unit 103, an estimation unit 104, adetermination unit 105, a modification unit 106, an output control unit107, a vehicle control unit 108, a reception unit 109, and a storageunit 110.

In addition to having the same configuration as the first embodiment,when travel route information which includes the travel route 80 isgenerated on the basis of the teaching travel by the learning unit 103,the determination unit 105 according to this embodiment determineswhether the travel route information satisfies the regulation forautomatic travel of the vehicle 1.

In addition to having the same configuration as the first embodiment,when travel route information which includes the travel route 80 isgenerated on the basis of the teaching travel by the learning unit 103,the modification unit 106 according to this embodiment makes amodification to the speed, steering angle, or braking operation.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of travelroute information modification processing according to a secondembodiment. The processing of this flowchart is started, for example,when the driver performs an operation to start registering the travelroute information.

First, the acquisition unit 101 acquires surrounding images from theimaging devices 16 (S101).

The extraction unit 102 then extracts feature points from thesurrounding images acquired by the acquisition unit 101 (S102).

In addition, the acquisition unit 101 acquires vehicle information(S103).

The reception unit 109 also determines whether or not an operation toend teaching travel has been received from the operation button 141 orthe like (S104). The processing of S101 to S104 is repeated until theoperation to end the teaching travel is received (S104 “No”).

When the operation to end the teaching travel is received (S104 “Yes”),the learning unit 103 saves the recorded travel route 80, speed,steering angle, and braking operation of the teaching travel to thestorage unit 110 as the travel route information (S105).

Next, the determination unit 105 determines whether or not the travelroute information satisfies the regulation for automatic travel of thevehicle 1.

From the determination in S106 of whether or not the travel routeinformation complies with a law or a standard to the processing in S111to modify the speed and steering angle of the travel route information,the processing is the same as the processing from S604 to S609 in theflowchart of the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8.

Note that, according to this embodiment, although the travel routeinformation is already corrected to satisfy the regulation for automatictravel of the vehicle 1 during learning, the determination unit 105 isconfigured to re-determine whether the travel route informationsatisfies the latest regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1when the parking assistance using automatic travel is executed. The flowof this processing is the same as in the first embodiment.

Thus, when the travel route 80 is generated on the basis of teachingtravel, the parking assistance device 100 according to this embodimentmakes a modification to the speed, steering angle, or braking operationrecorded in the teaching travel on the basis of the regulation forautomatic travel of the vehicle 1, environmental information, andgeographic information. Therefore, with the parking assistance device100 according to this embodiment, being provided with the same functionsas those of the first embodiment, because travel route information whichhas been updated in advance to a state satisfying the regulation isstored in the storage unit 110, the amount of modification duringexecution of parking assistance by automated driving is reduced,accordingly reducing the processing load for updating the travel routeinformation during the execution of parking assistance.

Modification Example 1

In each of the foregoing embodiments, the modification unit 106 isassumed to be capable of modifying the speed, steering, and brakingoperations learned from the teaching travel, but not all of these needto be modifiable. The modification unit 106 should be able to modify atleast the speed.

Modification Example 2

Furthermore, in the foregoing second embodiment, an example in which thetravel route information is modified during learning based on teachingtravel was described, but the timing for modifying the recorded travelinformation is not limited thereto. For example, after the travel routeinformation has been saved in the storage unit 110, the determinationunit 105 may determine whether the travel route information satisfiesthe latest regulation for automatic travel of the vehicle 1. In thiscase, depending on the result of the determination by the determinationunit 105, the modification unit 106 updates the travel route informationsaved in the storage unit 110.

Modification Example 3

Further, a screen that is provided on an operation terminal such as aremote controller or electronic key when the driver disembarks from thevehicle 1 during automatic travel by the vehicle control unit 108 may bean example of the display unit. In this case, the output control unit107 may cause the screen provided on the operation terminal to displaythe fact that the vehicle 1 behaves differently during automated drivingthan during teaching travel.

Modification Example 4

Further, the modification unit 106 may modify the speed, steering angle,or braking operation in automatic travel of the vehicle 1 from thespeed, steering angle, or braking operation in teaching travel on thebasis of the learned model in which the map information and the stoppingposition have been learned. Learned models are generated by, forexample, deep learning or other machine learning.

Modification Example 5

In addition, when the travel route information includes an unnecessarytemporary stop, the modification unit 106 may modify the brakingoperation of the travel route information based on teaching travel toavoid a temporary stop.

Modification Example 6

Further, in each of the foregoing embodiments, the parking assistancedevice 100 used the travel route in teaching travel during learning asthe travel route 80 for automatic travel in home zone parking. However,the learning technique is not limited thereto.

For example, teaching travel may also be travel in which the driver usesmanual driving to move the vehicle 1 from the parking position 910 to ateaching travel end position outside the parking position. In this case,the learning unit 103 generates a travel route 80 for home zone parkingby replaying the route of the teaching travel in the reverse direction.

For example, the driver starts teaching travel from the state where thevehicle 1 is stopped at the parking position 910 in the garage 920, andmoves the vehicle 1 forward to exit the garage 920. The driver thencauses the vehicle 1 to travel out of the garage 920 to the desiredteaching travel end position by further forward movement, and stops thevehicle 1. The learning unit 103 then records the teaching travel on thebasis of the steering, braking, acceleration and deceleration during theteaching travel, and the feature points extracted from the surroundingimages. Based on the recorded teaching travel, the learning unit 103generates the travel route 80 in which the vehicle 1 travels backwardfrom the end position of the teaching travel to the parking position 910in the garage 920. Using this technique, the end position of theteaching travel becomes the travel start position 900 for automatictravel. Such a technique is also called reverse playback of the travelroute.

In general, in manual driving, it is easier to move the vehicle 1 out ofthe garage 920 than to move the vehicle 1 into the garage 920.Conversely, if such a learning technique is used, even when the driveris not good at moving the vehicle 1 backward to enter the garage 920,the travel route 80 for home zone parking can be generated by teachingtravel in which the driver moves the vehicle 1 forward to exit thegarage 920. Note that, although a case where the driver moves thevehicle 1 forward in teaching travel is described as an example in thismodification example, the driver may also move the vehicle 1 backward inteaching travel.

The parking assistance device, the parking assistance method, and acomputer-readable medium according to the present disclosure enable thebehavior of a vehicle to be placed in a state suitable for travel byautomated driving when the vehicle is traveling automatically along atravel route based on teaching travel.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems describedherein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods andsystems described herein may be made without departing from the spiritof the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents areintended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within thescope and spirit of the inventions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A parking assistance device that performsautomatic travel of a vehicle based on teaching travel by a driver, theparking assistance device comprising: a memory; and a hardware processorcoupled to the memory, the hardware processor being configured to: learna travel route for parking the vehicle in a parking position and aspeed, a steering angle, and braking operation of the vehicle during theteaching travel, based on the teaching travel; and modify the speed, thesteering angle, or the braking operation in the automatic travel of thevehicle from the speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation inthe teaching travel, based on any of a regulation for the automatictravel of the vehicle, environmental information relating to anenvironment around the vehicle, or geographic information relating to aroad condition around the vehicle.
 2. The parking assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the regulation for the automatic travel ofthe vehicle is a regulation for a speed, a steering angle, or anecessity of a temporary stop of the vehicle, which is applied when thevehicle travels automatically.
 3. The parking assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the regulation for the automatic travel ofthe vehicle is defined by a law or a standard.
 4. The parking assistancedevice according to claim 1, wherein the regulation for the automatictravel of the vehicle is a regulation which is determined based on ridecomfort of a passenger or an effect on people around the vehicle duringthe automatic travel of the vehicle.
 5. The parking assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the environmental information includespresence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle and a distancebetween the vehicle and the obstacle.
 6. The parking assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the environmental information includes mapinformation.
 7. The parking assistance device according to claim 1,wherein the hardware processor is further configured to notify apassenger of the vehicle that the vehicle will behave differently thanduring the teaching travel, when modifying the speed, the steeringangle, or the braking operation.
 8. The parking assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor is furtherconfigured to cause the vehicle to move to the parking position byautomated driving based on the speed, the steering angle, or the brakingoperation modified by the hardware processor.
 9. The parking assistancedevice according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor isconfigured to make a modification to the speed, the steering angle, orthe braking operation when automated driving based on the travel routeis started.
 10. The parking assistance device according to claim 1,wherein the hardware processor is configured to make a modification tothe speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation when the travelroute is generated based on the teaching travel.
 11. The parkingassistance device according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processoris configured to modify the speed, the steering angle, or the brakingoperation in the automatic travel of the vehicle from the speed, thesteering angle, or the braking operation in the teaching travel, basedon a learned model in which map information and a stopping position havebeen learned.
 12. The parking assistance device according to claim 1,wherein the teaching travel is travel in which the driver moves thevehicle from a travel start position outside the parking position to theparking position by using manual driving, and the hardware processor isconfigured to learn the travel start position in the teaching travel asa start position of the travel route.
 13. The parking assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the teaching travel is travel in which thedriver moves the vehicle from the parking position to a teaching travelend position outside the parking position by using manual driving, andthe hardware processor is configured to perform learning by using theteaching travel end position as a start position of the travel route,and using, as the travel route, a route through which the vehicletravels in a reverse direction to that of the teaching travel.
 14. Aparking assistance method comprising: learning a travel route forparking a vehicle in a parking position and a speed, a steering angle,and braking operation of the vehicle during teaching travel, based onthe teaching travel; and modifying the speed, the steering angle, or thebraking operation in automatic travel of the vehicle from the speed, thesteering angle, or the braking operation in the teaching travel, basedon any of a regulation for the automatic travel of the vehicle,environmental information relating to an environment around the vehicle,or geographic information relating to a road condition around thevehicle.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which anexecutable program is recorded, the program instructing a computer tocarry out: learning a travel route for parking a vehicle in a parkingposition and a speed, a steering angle, and braking operation of thevehicle during teaching travel, based on the teaching travel; andmodifying the speed, the steering angle, or the braking operation inautomatic travel of the vehicle from the speed, the steering angle, orthe braking operation in the teaching travel, based on any of aregulation for the automatic travel of the vehicle, environmentalinformation relating to an environment around the vehicle, or geographicinformation relating to a road condition around the vehicle.